Happy Birthday to my oldest!

My daughter turned 8 today.  Sadly, she has the flu so all of the wonderful things I had planned today have kind of fallen by the wayside.

8 balloons for each of her eight years attached to seven little gifts and a card letting her know of one coming surprise:  Check!

Cute cookie cake for after her softball game: Check!

Up early to make her breakfast - cake batter pancakes:  Check!

Plans for pizza and gatorade:  Check!

All of the above, put on hold for a few days while her tummy rebounds:  Check!

I'll try to put out some pictures later but right now I'm taking care of her.

Cutesy Satchel - The Cupcake

I LOVE these bags.  Fun to make, kids are invested, and the options are endless.  My kiddos have given up their regular backpacks in lieu of their totes (Maddox the Panda and Autumn has the Cupcake).  We are busily working away at more variations and different upgrades that the kids have come up with.  They are so excited about these.  But, for now, I have The Cupcake to add:

Available for purchase here: Etsy Store - Cutesy Totes

Acrylic Painting

The kids left to go with their dad.  These days are always difficult for me so I made a plan.  I pulled out my brand spanking new acrylics and some canvasses that have just been begging for me to work them into something.  I am out of practice - as in not painted in over a year - and consequently started small.  But, I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I am considering adding a quote to the bottom right square though.  Anyhow, this is my first painting in a LONG time.

Girls' jeans to cute skirt

My daughter grew out of these jeans with her last growth spurt and they had holes in the knee but were otherwise in good shape so I opted to alter it a bit into a skirt.  This too is available in my Etsy shop and I hope to have more as she continues to grow.  It was pretty easy to do actually.

I cut off the pants to the desired length (well above the knee holes) and trimmed out the inseam.  It took a bit of trimming and tucking to make the pants lay right as a skirt but this was not overly complicated.  I should have taken pictures (*face palm*) of the whole process but it went so quickly I didn't even think about it.  Next, I took some cotton scraps I had (did not use more than a 1/4 of a yard) and cut it into strips a few inches wide.  I finished the lower edge of each strip and then machine-basted the top edge for gathering.  The strips had to be cut down so they could be layered in a pyramid shape and stitched into the skirt (front and back).  Lastly, I trimmed the bottom edge of the final ruffle and stitched it on the skirt.

Front of the skirt

Back of the skirt

Ruffle t-shirt skirt

I keep seeing these skirts everywhere and I've done a similar one before but now I think I have the whole system perfected.  I will be incorporating these into my Etsy store since I like them so much and I can see the "school color" version being a HUGE help for parents like me.  My kiddo loves sports but they do not make a lot of cute NCAA/NFL/NBA (these are the only sports we really follow, don't judge!  LOL!)  clothing for girls.  It is sad really.  But, now that I have worked out these handy little skirts, I can make her one for every team we follow.  This particular one says O-H-I-O since it is made primarily from old OSU t-shirts that no longer fit my kiddos.  It turned out even cuter than I anticipated to be honest.

If you are interested in purchasing this particular OSU ruffle skirt it is available in my Etsy store.  I can also do made to order via that posting.

Cutesy tote - the Panda

My son has two favorite animals - the giant panda and moose.  I will be making a moose in the future but I had the materials to make a panda today so here you have it.  Though the others to this point are available for purchase, this one went to my son for his library books.  I can custom make one if requested though.

This is primarily cotton but there is some felt (the bamboo, nose, and inner eyes).  I hand stitched the panda and bamboo.

The inner pocket is actually a dual pocket.

Cutesy satchel - the penguin

I said there would be more to come....well...there are..... A LOT more.  My kids and I brainstormed more than two dozen ideas for tote bags/satchels.  They have some fantastic ideas though sometimes I think they think more of my skill than they should.

The penguin features are hand-stitched but I machine-sewed the rest.  It is all cotton and approximately 12" wide by 18" high.  This version is reversible too!